Projecting instant information in situ: can it help us make more informed decisions?

How can a supermarket shopper choose a yogurt that is affordable, nutritional and has minimal environmental impact? How might they weigh these criteria in making a choice? Increasingly we are told about the risks, the costs and benefits of food choices. However, the information currently available – online, on food labels, or in information leaflets – can be patchy and difficult to find, or over-detailed and overwhelming. How can it be consolidated and presented to supermarket shoppers in an easy to understand and meaningful form? Our research is concerned with how we can best support decision-making in this domain. In particular we are investigating how augmented reality can deliver relevant 'instant information', that can be interpreted and acted upon in situ, enabling people to make more informed choices. We discuss our research program, to explore whether or not such technology interventions can encourage and empower people. We also examine the issues surrounding personal versus public projection and suggest two kinds of tool that can be used to explore these.

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